Furi0usd

...that there should be no more reviews of The National, as the issue of 'are they actually any good?' is totally dead?

...what exactly will she be FOR?

THAT much I'd agree with...

" If you're not fulfilling the visual part, it's like watching a movie with your eyes closed"

but to be fair, if you're not fulfilling the audio part why are you even in a band?

but I'm still not going.

...isn't it really just 'Jacob's Ladder' with bits on?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob's_Ladder_(film)

PS. Jacob's Ladder is very good

It seems to me neither cred nor pretentious, just a jolly good time.

cult favourite 'Driving In My Killer Cars".

There was their breakthrough hit 'One 15-Step Beyond'...

...was when I misread no. 39 as 'Model Skeletor'.

.

"Morrissey was born in Park Hospital, now known as Trafford General Hospital in Davyhulme, on 22 May 1959 to Irish Catholic immigrants."

i.e. if it wasn't for ethnic diversity in the UK, he might not even exist, let alone be in a position where he can whinge about it.

Eejit. Not racist, just an eejit.

Just says:

"Nothing for you to see here. Please move along."

One of my favourite ever gigs for three reasons:

1) No support band - they had a juggler

2) Butch doing 'Sad Clown'

3) 4 encores. That's FOUR encores.

And people say they need to cheer up...

...Blind Orange Peel - the character from 'The Rutles' who claimed to have invented everything.

I was actually just as excited that M.R James is getting some exposure.

TWO 'HEADS' ARE BETTER THAN ONE.

BOOM!

...I'll buy it.

If you're into genuine misery you can't really do any better than the Superhoops...

I'm a QPR fan and I never heard anything about this.

9-10 = These make music better

7-8 = These make music good

5-6 = These leave music unmoved

3-4 = These make music question the effort involved

1-2 = These retard the growth of music

To be fair I imagine most dreadful bands probably don't make music worse by their very existance - that would give them too much significance.

I have too much time on my hands. I should be writing plays or something...

SO last century it's not even funny.

www.myspace.com/thebigchunkyshits

SCORE.

Excellent call.

there's an American indie band called 'Umbrellas'.

They must be gutted.

More to the point I listened to their album just now and it was simply glorious.

Asobi Seksu, that is, not Umbrellas.

last time they did a tour. I arrived late and rather amazingly got let in for nothing to see most of the gig for free.

Happy days.

for no reason I can explain.

I probably did sound ever so serious.

Sorry.

If anything I'm a worse person to get my back up about the bloody Mercurys...

...any discussion of 'best album' is usually rubbished as soon as it starts, and by the time it's over isn't normally seen to have much validity. Just look what's happened here with the alternative list!

Also I rather think that any tiddly-little band is probably going to think "well, I'm not ACTUALLY as good as Radiohead, since they've been playing music years longer than me - and anyway, my lo-fi debut is OBVIOUSLY not as good as OK Computer. But who cares who wins anyway, my sales have just quadrupled without me even winning."

Come to think of it, why not have a top five, rather than an outright winner?

..I'm not suggesting you keep for unheard-of acts. The Monkeys, for instance, were stellar by the time they got a Mercury, and even Antony & the Johnsons were getting a lot of airplay. Further back, 'Suede' wasn't exactly doing badly when it got nominated.

What I'm saying is that by the time a band is so much as on its second album (let alone a later one, viz. 'Hail To The Thief'/'X£Y'), then really they should be able to stand or fall on the strength of their own skill. A 'first-album' band are therefore, by nature, more needful of the extra sales/exposure you get from a Mercury.

That's all I'm saying.

...is even nominating someone like Arctic Monkeys.

Regardless of whether you like them or not, they don't NEED it, and they'll probably give even less of a crap than they did last time. Ditto Winehouse, let's be honest.

So who wins exactly? I heard someone somewhere suggest it should be for debut albums only. To me, this doesn't seem like a bad idea...

...best leave my good opera cape at home and slum it.

Young Person's Railcard.

Pays for itself in instances such as this. I'm getting all the way to Thetford on open return for a measly £20. And once there my mate has car!

"...a really sad, pitiful, shallow version of what I've done."

Man, how sad, pitiful and shallow would THAT be?

..sounds like more or less anything by She Wants Revenge.

Er, yes it was...

...pernicious is just a word.

which is probably what modern religion is lacking.

...I think 'Neon Bible' is terrific.

Only disappoints in not being another version of 'Funeral. Which would have been more disappointing than anything.

...a boring version of Ladytron?

...is, funnily enough, one of the most average songs I've heard so far this year, even by Kaisers standards.

And The Twang are the most average band.

With the worst name.

Possibly no other band in the cosmos has made me wish they were an offshoot of Blak Twang.

Not especially 'magical' as a venue but probably better geared towards good gig.

But it's just down the road from me, so I can't complain really.

Arcade Fire for ladies.

Rock ladies.

'Hunting For Witches' not out til next year. Bad on two counts.

Secondly, and more importantly...

Regina Spektor - Hotel Song
Plan B - Dead & Buried
Ohbijou - Saint Francis
My Latest Novel - Reputation of Ross Francis
Killers - Sam's Town
Fields - If You Fail We All Fail
iLiKETRAiNS - Terra Nova
Roddy Woomble - Waverly Steps
Sparklehorse - Mountains
Thom Yorke - Analyse

...call them 'The Queens' for short?

I'D laugh.

of showbiz mag if that gets in, surely?

Then again it's Canadian showbiz...

Sounds like the future to me.

Whenever I've seen BSP it's always been (albeit slightly) marred by some sort of interpersonal audience aggro.

Not the sort of band I'd expect to bring out the worst in people.

Go there and you will find official statements from band members re. demise of band.

Rather sad, but they probably shouldn't have tried to make a second album entirely in the style of "The Red, the White...". It worked two or three times on 'Lost Riots' but it was never likely to sustain a full album without the longer tracks.

Record company pushing for 'poppier, more radio-friendly' maybe?

...they're co-managed by Jo Whiley's husband.

Which might explain how they've gotten so popular on Radio 1.